The other party was also ignorant and thus blameless, and they were fellow players besides. Bai Ci figured she would help them out if she could, intending to speak up and placate Ming Yi.
But before she could even speak, having only transmitted the thought of wanting to do so, she was pressed back down by Ming Yi's power.
It was as if he was saying: No softheartedness allowed. Someone who commits such an offensive act deserves to be thoroughly punished.
“Everyone, please don't panic, and don't misunderstand. This is Lady Ming, a Ghost Immortal whom I enshrine. She is by no means an evil spirit. Calling her a ‘ghost’ so casually is a massive offense.”
Seeing this, Wu Daoqing hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over, intending to defuse the situation.
For one, he wanted to stop the other party from speaking further, fearing they might say the wrong thing again and make the situation even more unmanageable. Secondly, he was trying to hold Lady Ming back, hoping the female-voiced Lady Ming would emerge so the atmosphere wouldn't be so tense and hostile.
This was Wu Daoqing's first time taking on a commission independently, so he had absolutely no concept of professional rivalry. He simply figured that since the client had said everyone would investigate together, they could be considered temporary companions.
The commission hadn't even started yet, and they were already in conflict with their fellow investigators. He hadn't realized at all that because they had all accepted the same commission, conflict was naturally inherent.
Unless someone could display absolute dominance and suppress the others. Or, if there was some other, more important shared goal beyond this matter, they might achieve harmonious coexistence.
Take players, for example. The commission's monetary reward was not important to them. What mattered more was the clear evaluation and rewards after resolving the incident.
As long as a player lacked absolute self-confidence in their ability to perfectly clear the instance alone, they would generally lean toward peace, at least at the very beginning of the instance. Of course, those who never intended to clear the instance properly and only wanted to vent their emotions were an exception.
His words jolted everyone awake.
Although the players might not understand what a Ghost Immortal truly meant, the inclusion of the word “Immortal” let them know this was no ordinary ghost or monster.
Hearing Wu Daoqing's explanation, the spirit medium's face turned pale and red in turn. Overcome with lingering fear, she did not dare hesitate for a second. Now that a lifeline had been thrown to her, she grabbed it immediately.
She immediately bowed her head, her posture respectful and proper, and apologized quickly.
“It is my lack of vision and shallow understanding. I did not know the rules and rashly offended Her Ladyship. I beg Her Ladyship's forgiveness.”
Seeing that the spirit medium had taken the way out, Bai Ci also popped up.
See? Since she didn't do it on purpose and her apology is very sincere, let's let it slide this time, okay?
This time, she wasn't pressed back down by Ming Yi. Instead, her popping up directly switched their control.
Well, Ming Yi had tentatively agreed not to pursue the spirit medium's disrespect for now, but if there were a next time, his anger would be exponential.
“If there is a next time, you will not be spared lightly,” Bai Ci said, capturing the essence of Ming Yi's thoughts to bring the matter to a close.
Hearing the gentle female voice, Wu Daoqing visibly breathed a sigh of relief. The bone-chilling cold gradually receded, and the tense atmosphere began to soften.
“A misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding. Please don't take it to heart, everyone.”
Seeing this, Zhao Cunzhi—who was just an ordinary person but also the client who had posted this commission—finally found the right opportunity and immediately stepped forward to smooth things over. He planned to completely dissolve the awkwardness and liven up the atmosphere by introducing everyone.
First, he raised his hand toward the four people opposite them and gently introduced them one by one. “Daoist Master, let me introduce these friends to you.”
“The one who just spoke is Ou Li. She is a very capable spirit medium who is well-versed in yin and yang. My third cousin specially introduced her to me.”
After speaking, he looked at the girl in Bohemian attire standing next to Ou Li.
“The one next to her is Mi Ke, a classmate from when my sixth cousin studied abroad. She is a somewhat famous psychic overseas and has a lot of experience with these kinds of supernatural anomalies.”
Next, his gaze fell upon the man in the traditional Daoist robe, and he smiled warmly to build some rapport.
“This Daoist master in the robe is named Wu Suowei, an expert recommended by my second brother. Speaking of which, you two share the same surname, Wu, which is a rare and wonderful coincidence.”
Hearing this, Wu Suowei in his Daoist robe immediately smiled, cupped his hands, and took the initiative to show goodwill to Wu Daoqing. “It is indeed a coincidence. We must have been family five hundred years ago. Junior Brother is young and promising; your future is limitless.”
Wu Daoqing quickly returned the gesture, his demeanor humble and shy. “Senior Brother, you praise me too highly. My cultivation is still shallow, and I do not deserve such praise.”
Finally, Zhao Cunzhi looked at the calm, scholarly-looking man in the group.
“And the last one here is Zheng Gang, my cousin's classmate and a professional archaeologist. He is exceptionally interested in my family's strange occurrence, so he came along with my cousin to check out the situation.”
Floating to the side, Bai Ci watched silently, laughing to herself. This lineup was truly a mixed bag.
While the other three at least had somewhat relevant specialties, this remaining archaeologist practically had “I'm just here to fill the numbers” written on his forehead. He was completely out of place.
It was pretty much the same situation as Bai Ci's.
Under normal circumstances, an archaeologist was a profession unrelated to supernatural instances, but in Call of Cthulhu games, it was one of the classic party-wipe-engine professions.
It seemed that filling the roster for a class-restricted instance was no easy task, so the system had dragged in any player who was even remotely related.
Having introduced the four, Zhao Cunzhi turned back to face everyone and solemnly introduced Wu Daoqing.
“Everyone, Daoist Master Wu Daoqing here is an officially certified, orthodox Heavenly Master from the Heavenly Master Association. His strength is beyond doubt.”
“Whether we can resolve this strange occurrence in my Zhao family this time will depend heavily on all of you.”
The others nodded and exchanged pleasantries, maintaining a facade of harmony and warmth.
After some brief small talk, the tension dissipated, and Butler Zhou stepped forward at the right moment.
“Daoist Master Wu, it happens to be lunchtime. Please follow me upstairs to your guest room to put down your luggage and rest a bit. You can come down to eat shortly, and it won't be too late to discuss the details with everyone after the meal.”
Everyone agreed and dispersed.
“Butler, the room next to Daoist Master Wu's has been cleaned up too, right? Tell Nanny Wang not to go near there for the next few days.”
Zhao Cunzhi called out to Butler Zhou. As expected of the head of a large family, he was highly tactful and adept at social maneuvers.
“If Lady Ming doesn't mind, she is welcome to stay there at any time. If there is anything else that needs to be prepared, I will certainly fulfill it.”
Not knowing exactly where Bai Ci was, he could only speak in Wu Daoqing's direction.
Bai Ci did not respond. She felt that since she was currently representing a Ghost Immortal, she had to maintain a certain aloofness and couldn't appear too down-to-earth.
Receiving no reply, Zhao Cunzhi was not discouraged.
It was only normal for an entity with “Immortal” in their title to have some airs. Having made the promise of reserving a room specifically for Lady Ming, the rest would just be a matter of communicating with Wu Daoqing, her enshrinement partner, about any taboos.
As long as they didn't offend the immortal, everything should be easy to handle.
Once Wu Daoqing had followed the butler upstairs and out of sight, the four players who had dispersed gathered back together.
Rate on N.U.
